Very aggressive statement by Warren Smith. All I can say is that he must have some pretty strong back room information to be throwing this out before we even play a game. Warren is a smart guy. He wouldn't just throw this out there willy-nilly. Gonna be a fun next few years!!!! Good luck to us all!!! http://www.sacbee.com/2013/11/28/5952941/sacramento-soccer-franchise-has.html
I'm so glad we have Warren with us, he is really determined to bring us into the MLS. Can't wait until kickoff in 2014 comes, but 2016 is now also an exiciting year for me.
Optimistic comments by the mayor “The stage is set,” Mayor Kevin Johnson said. “Sacramento is a market that’s proven itself and can support more than one professional franchise. We want everyone to see what we already know, that we are a big soccer community, and if we send that strong message like we have in basketball and Triple-A baseball, then we think we’re right in line.” Johnson and Smith said the conversation over whether the city can help foot the bill for a new facility, preferably downtown, won’t take place until the city has finalized its plans to provide a $258 million subsidy for a new downtown arena for the Kings. Republic FC and city officials expect a stadium seating roughly 18,000 soccer fans would cost in the neighborhood of $100 million. “We’re going to have a long conversation and I don’t want to get in front of ourselves, but we can do more than one thing at a time,” the mayor said. Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2013/11/28/5952941/sacramento-soccer-franchise-has.html#storylink=cpy Once the Kings arena construction gets started (and is a done deal), I have a strong feeling KJ is going to get way more involved. This is right up his alley, and he wouldn't be involved if he didn't care.
While getting a team would be cool, I don't want to rush things. First and for most, let's just wait and see how we do in USL before making the jump to MLS.
Indeed, ambitious. A lot of people laughed at Orlando, too. But there are quite a few more roadblocks for Sacramento, not the least of which is the proximety of San Jose.
Proximity to San Jose is not a roadblock; approx. 90 miles (120+ by road). The Bay area and Sacramento Valley are two distinctly different markets. There are still plenty of roadblocks and hurdles, though. Not sure what you mean when you said "more than Orlando". I would say the hurdles are about the same, since Sac is roughly following the same model as Orlando (to MLS)
That's total nonsense. San Jose to Sacramento (by car) = 117 miles DC to Philadelphia (by car) = 145 miles Philadelphia to NY (by car) = 96 miles
General question. I checked wikipedia and Sacramento technically is in the Cascadia region. Has the team ever thought possibly having some type of affiliation with the Cascadia Cup. I know this is an MLS only cup, but theoretically Sacramento could be part of it in the future if it joins MLS.
There isn't a single Sacramentan who considers Sacramento part of Cascadia. Honestly, the whole idea is completely bizarre. If Wikipedia suggests otherwise somewhere, that entry should be changed.
Hate to correct you, but Sacramento is not apart of the Cascadia region. The Cascades terminate in upper Northern California at Mount Lassen. Sacramento is located at the base of the Sacramento Valley, which is defined by the Coastal Mountain range to its west, and the Sierra Nevada Mtn range to its east. The Cascades and Sierra Nevadas are two different major mountain ranges. Aside from that, a broader "West Coast" cup could be created.
Yeah, Cascadia starts up by Shasta and Lassen, all of those volcanic areas in the northern part of the state.
Well it appears to be MLS that is driving the move from Hughes stadium to the temp venue at Cal Expo. He might have good reason to be feeling so ambitious.
By physical geography, there is a connection in that the Sacramento River originates in the Cascade Range, but there is indeed no connection in terms of the regional or cultural identity of Cascadia.
That's certainly a distant stretch of a connection. Better a Sacramento MLS team inaugurate a true, multi-team California Cup than latch onto the Cascadia Cup.
Indeed, and to say the Sacramento River originates in the Cascade Range is to forget that the vast bulk of its tributaries actually flow from the Sierra Nevada. Sacramento is no more "Cascadia" than San Francisco is...
Atlanta named as 22nd MLS franchise, beginning play in 2017. With Miami assumed to be #23, that leaves one spot to compete for the 2020 deadline to reach 24. http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/artic...r-names-atlanta-22nd-franchise-set-2017-debut
i am glad you noticed after all this time. That is an old post. I made a geographical mistake and was corrected by other posters.
I hope you are right but I would feel a lot better if the league weren't holding to the 24 by 2020 line. What is the current expansion schedule? #20 NYCFC in 2015 #21 Orlando in 2016 #22 Atlanta in 2017 #23 Miami in 2018 (target date for new stadium) #24 ???? in 2019 or 2020 Preceded by: Toronto in 2007 San Jose in 2008 Seattle in 2009 Philadelphia in 2010 Vancouver and Portland in 2011 Montreal in 2012 None in 2013 & 2014 There seems to be a pattern here. One team per year gets you to 24 in 2019. So, at the most there might be 21 by 2020. Maybe other franchises will be awarded by then, as you suggest. I guess the question is will the league pause at 24, after rapid expansion, and assess the health of the league for some period of time or keep striking while (if) the iron is hot?